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060: Moneyball (2011)

Watch out – it’s another ‘based on true events’ film. Manager of the failing Oakland A baseball team Billy Beane uses a shoestring budget and computer analysis to pick a successful new squad. It might not be essential for you to be a fan of baseball to get this film, but it might help you find it less of a yawn.

Aside from a pretty monotonous theme, what is most infuriating about Moneyball is the amount of appraisal it has warranted. Although I wouldn’t naysay Pitt’s acting abilities, he plays a boring, emotionally vacant and an actorly straightforward central character. The same can be said about Jonah Hill as chubby-funster sidekick Peter Brand, who has been applauded in the states merely for stepping out of his slacker comedy comfort zone. Well done, you’ve done a ‘serious’ role, m’boy. Now, where’s McLovin’ and the rest of the gross out gang gone to?

However, whats most disappointing about Moneyball and it’s tediousness is that it comes from two brilliant cinematic minds, with a screenplay from Aaron Sorkin and Bennett Miller in the director’s chair for the first time since the mesmerisingly cold Capote. These two create something without any heart or soul, instead adopting an antagonistically macho, shallow exterior.

The cinematic equivalent of watching someone play Championship Manager for two and a bit hours. Fun and fine if you’re pushing the buttons yourself, but leaves a lot to be desired as a spectator sport.